Editor's note: the following is a revised and updated version of a letter I
sent to USCF Voting members in 1999.
WHY USCF SHOULD ENACT OMOV
by Bill Goichberg
The democratic way
USCF has always claimed to be a democratic organization. Its mission statement
states, "It is structured to ensure effective democratic procedures." But, in
practice, the members have little say in how the federation is run, as only the
electors (called Voting Members before 2000, and now entitled Delegates and
Alternate Delegates) have the right to vote for the Executive Board.
Through 1999, the electors were elected or appointed by the state affiliates.
In 1998, a new method of selecting electors was approved, going into effect in
2000, under which USCF members in each state select the state's electors. This
new procedure is commonly called "SOMOV," for "State One Member One Vote." It
is a democratization of the selection of Delegates to the annual meeting, but
still leaves the election of our Executive Board as a basically undemocratic
process, for several reasons:
1. When voting for state Delegates and Alternates, in most cases, a member
will have little or no idea how these Delegates and Alternates will vote for the
Executive Board. At the time of the state Delegate/Alternate elections, the
candidates for the following year's Executive Board election are not even known.
2. The vote for the Executive Board is a secret ballot, so that even if members
contact their Delegates/Alternates to express their opinion as to how their
representatives should vote, the latter are free to ignore them with no risk of
being defeated in the subsequent election as a result.
3. In most states, the same Delegates/Alternates, mostly prominent organizers
and TDs, tend to be elected year after year. For example, this was long the
case before 2000 in New York, in which the NYSCA membership elected the state's
USCF Voting Members. The overwhelming majority of New York's current electors
were elected every time they have run, a situation which did not change under
SOMOV in 2000, as no incumbent electors were defeated.
In virtually every other state as well in 2000, the state association slate was
elected, usually without opposition. There is nothing undemocratic about states
re-electing the same people every time, but I can't buy the idea that this means
that members are electing the Executive Board, when all they are really doing is
repeatedly ratifying who the most popular organizers and TDs in the state are.
Better candidates
Many in USCF have long complained that we need higher quality candidates,
especially those prominent in the business world. But our present system tends
to produce highly politicized elections, in which many candidates are more adept
at making alliances and telling voters what they want to hear than in corporate
management. This is hardly surprising when the support of a few "insiders" may
bring a candidate 20% or more of the vote needed to be elected, and candidates
promise committee assignments to voters (as one did in 1999) in the hope of
obtaining support. If the membership is eligible to vote, the influence of the
insiders will be greatly reduced, and prominent professionals who do not wish to
play politics will be more likely to run.
A more responsive Board
One of the major advantages of democracy is that those who govern are accountable
to those who elect them. Do a poor job, and you won't be elected again.
We now have a structure in which Board members interested in future Board service
may be responsive to the electors, but not to the overall membership. Organizers
and TDs are vital to our federation, but a Board which does not place its top
priority on the needs of the membership as a whole cannot do its best for USCF.
Most of our membership is now shut out of the process of electing the Executive
Board, so the dialogue we need to build a stronger federation is absent on both
ends. Candidates don't need member support to be elected, so few are in touch
with the membership about issues, resulting in few members expressing opinions or
becoming interested in federation affairs. OMOV will break this vicious circle,
invigorate the process, and enlarge the pool of those who care about USCF
governance.
Involving the membership: other benefits
Another important benefit of involving all interested adult members in the
process of governance is that to some of these, the federation will become "us"
rather than "them." A member who is given a voice, and becomes interested in
USCF issues or candidates, is far more likely to feel a part of the federation,
not just a customer who subscribes to a magazine or purchases a chess book.
Especially at a time when dwindling adult membership has been a problem, we
should not overlook the possibility that members who feel included, consulted,
or involved in USCF's mission of promoting American chess will be more likely to
renew and spread the word than those who do not. Anyone who has spent much time
reading the chess politics newsgroup has seen posts to the effect of "Why should
I be a member of an organization that won't let me vote for its officers" or "I
quit USCF five years ago and I won't return until I can vote." I do not contend
these are typical chessplayers (all chess, no politics is a far more common
view), but even if such opinions represent only a small minority, and the good
will caused by OMOV raises our adult membership by just a few hundred, this would
be of significant help.
A common message
When the number of potential voters is small, as it is today, it becomes easy
for some candidates to tailor their phone message to what they think that voter
wants to hear. Unfair attacks are also made by phone on candidates who are unable
to respond. With some 50,000 potential voters, the importance of phone
campaigning will be greatly reduced. The primary media for campaigns under OMOV
will be Chess Life election supplements and the internet, both featuring the
common message desirable in an honest campaign.
It works!
OMOV is not a harebrained scheme. It's not an unproven, radical theory, but is a
method used with success by such groups as Common Cause, Sierra Club, American
Philatelic Society, American Numismatic Association, American Contract Bridge
League, National Rifle Association, and Handgun Control Inc.
Now, let's look at arguments that have been made against OMOV.
An elite voter group?
This argument maintains that, as Tim Redman wrote in the May 1998 Chess Life,
only a select group of "well informed voters" who "give up a great deal of
energy and time to serve the Federation" should be allowed to vote for the
Executive Board. Redman argues, "The confidence in the wisdom of the people
and its transcending any need for information or restraint has ample historical
precedent: in the know-nothing populism in this country during the latter part
of the nineteenth century, in the belief in the inherent virtue of the "Volk" in
Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, in Nixon's "silent majority."
Redman apparently found it difficult to provide good examples of the evils of
democracy, as the "know-nothing" populists had little success at the polls, the
German democracy of the 1920s was doomed by worldwide depression after which talk
of the "Volk" making decisions was just Nazi propaganda, and the "silent majority"
was Nixon's way of claiming endorsement by the voters of positions they did not
necessarily support. None of Redman's examples indicates a drawback of democracy.
Nevertheless, there is no question that in a democracy, voters do often make
mistakes. USCF is basically an oligarchy governed by the elite, and here too the
voters have recently made some serious mistakes. But what is the alternative?
As Churchill said, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except all those
other forms that have been tried from time to time."
Regarding informed voters, the OMOV Committee proposal calls for a 150 word
statement in the April Chess Life, plus half pages in election supplements that
will accompany or be inserted in the May and June issues of Chess Life, and
equitable space on the USCF website.
The internet will be a very significant campaign medium; most USCF members are
already online, and by the OMOV implementation date of 2003, ever more will be.
Those who do not own a computer may use the internet for little cost at their
local library. Few members who are interested will be unable to obtain
information.
The idea that only those members who do the most for us or are best informed
can be trusted to vote is a centuries old, discredited case against democracy
and for oligarchy. It is a classic argument used by the upper economic classes
of many nations to maintain their wealth and power, and to continue oppression
of the poor. Those who are denied the vote do indeed tend to be poorly informed,
and this is just the way those in power like it.
In 1430, an Act of Parliament in England had a preamble which explained that a
"very great and excessive number of people" had been voting in the county
elections, each of them claiming "a voice equivalent... with the most worthy
knights and esquires." This Act, which remained in effect for four
centuries, required that no one could vote in a county election unless he owned
a freehold property with an annual value of at least forty shillings. Laws of
this type were intended to keep the wealthy in power, not to promote voting by
the well-informed.
In 19th century America, many states still required property ownership as a
condition of voting. John Adams wrote in 1820, "If the radicals should succeed in
obtaining universal suffrage, they will... turn those who have property out of
their houses... Our ancestors have made a pecuniary qualification necessary...
for electors, and all the wise men of the world have agreed in the same thing."
But Thomas Jefferson did not agree, backing "general suffrage" and saying "I am
not among those who fear the people." The verdict of history has been that it
was the position of Jefferson, not Adams, that showed wisdom.
In 20th century South Africa, part of the argument of the ruling minority of
whites was, in effect, that they were the ones who "give up a great deal of
energy and time to serve" their nation, and that the black majority was not
"well informed" and not deserving of the right to vote. Many predicted a
bloodbath if blacks were ever allowed to vote and control the government, but
this did not materialize, like so many other predictions that an expanded
electorate would lead to disaster.
"The members don't care"
Another argument frequently made against OMOV is that most members care only
about playing chess and will not take an interest in USCF governance and will
not vote. I agree that, given the opportunity, most members will probably not
vote. However:
1. Any adult member who wishes to vote for the Executive Board should have that
right. Whether or not others choose to vote is irrelevant; we are a democratic
organization and that member has paid dues and deserves the right to vote.
The argument that one should not be allowed to vote because he or she is part of
too small a group of potential voters may sound ridiculous, but is actually
anti-democratic rhetoric that is centuries old! Consider these examples.
In the early 1700s, Negroes who were not slaves were allowed to vote in Virginia,
until the state legislature revoked this right. In response to protests against
this action, Governor Gooch said, "After all, the number of free Negroes and
mulattos entitled to the privilege of voting at elections is so inconsiderable,
that 'tis scarce worth while to take any notice of them in this particular."
In debate on a female suffrage bill in 1881, State Senator Howe of Nebraska said,
"I am not acquainted with half a dozen ladies who would accept the suffrage if it
were offered to them. They are not prepared for so radical a change. For these
reasons... I vote no."
2. Member interest in USCF governance is presently at a low level because few
members are eligible to vote. If the franchise is extended to all adult members,
many more will become interested. Presently, only about 530 members are allowed
to vote, and about 450 actually vote. Under OMOV, will 1100 (the SOMOV turnout)
vote, or 5000, or 10,000? No one knows, but any of these numbers would be a big
step forward for USCF, as increased member interest should ultimately expand the
number of qualified candidates. Simply allowing this expanded franchise will
make many feel more positive about USCF.
Kona and Reno: "Give SOMOV a chance"
At the 1998 meeting of the Delegates in Kona and the 1999 meeting in Reno, the
major argument made by the opponents of OMOV was that we had just given the
members the power to elect those who would elect the Board (SOMOV), so it was
necessary to give this method a chance to prove itself before enacting further
reforms. It was suggested that the members might now, by choosing the
appropriate electors, actually be electing the Board, that this new process
might attract many new candidates for Delegate/Alternate and interest many
members, and that it might work so well that OMOV would be unnecessary.
None of these things happened. In most states, the number of candidates was
the same as the number of electors to be chosen, hardly an exciting contest
likely to arouse member interest in USCF governance. Nationwide, out of about
500 seats up for election, only four people were elected other than those
nominated by their state affiliates. The election involved very little, if
any, campaigning or discussion of issues. Under the circumstances, the voter
turnout of about 1100 was respectable, but in its first test, SOMOV was a bust.
St. Paul: "SOMOV doesn't work, so neither will OMOV"
The opponents of OMOV had to make an important strategic decision for the 2000
Delegates meeting at St. Paul. The returns were in, and it was obvious that
SOMOV had done little or nothing to empower the USCF membership or increase
member interest in USCF governance. Should they argue that the Delegates
should avoid OMOV in order to "Give SOMOV a chance" again in 2002, or that the
failure of SOMOV showed that OMOV would also fail? They decided on the latter
strategy. Apparently they were prepared to use any SOMOV outcome as the basis
for an anti-OMOV argument- if SOMOV is successful, we don't need OMOV, while
if SOMOV is unsuccessful, this shows that OMOV will be too!
The Return of Senator Howe
Just as Senator Howe argued that women should be denied the right to vote
because too few would "accept the suffrage if it were offered to them,"
opponents of OMOV maintained at St. Paul that the USCF membership should not be
allowed to elect the Executive Board because too few members would vote. They
pointed to the SOMOV turnout of 1100, about 2% of those eligible, and claimed
that in an OMOV election, even fewer members would vote because "If they didn't
vote for candidates in their state who they know, why would they vote for
Executive Board candidates they don't know."
This is an extremely weak argument. Consider the following:
1. USCF says it is a democratic organization, yet the position that a member
should be denied the right to vote because not enough other members are
expected to do the same is profoundly anti-democratic.
2. The SOMOV election for electors was boring! Most candidate slates were
unopposed, so very little was at stake. An OMOV election for the Executive
Board would probably have contested races for all positions, resulting in a
turnout far greater than 1100.
3. The SOMOV election for electors involved little or no campaigning or
issues. An OMOV election for the Executive Board would feature discussion of
issues in election supplements to Chess Life and on the internet, as well as
campaign appearances by candidates at clubs and tournaments, further increasing
the number of voters.
4. The argument that turnouts would be larger for local races ("the candidates
they know") than for national ("the candidates they don't know") is refuted by
government elections. More voters tend to show up to vote for President than
for Governor or Congress, and the lowest vote totals are usually in the minor
local races. The truth is exactly the opposite of what OMOV opponents claim.
5. The same people who suggested that we put off OMOV because SOMOV might work
now argue that we must avoid OMOV because SOMOV does not work. They appear to
begin their analysis of OMOV with the conclusion that it should be defeated,
and then seek reasons to justify such an evaluation. Why do they fear OMOV?
Is it really because not enough members will vote? Or is it actually because
too many members will vote, and insiders who now influence a substantial
percentage of the voters will have their power diminished?
Name recognition
Redman says that under OMOV, "Name recognition, not constructive thought, will
be the criterion for election to national office." Will the overall membership
be more likely to vote for a famous chess personality than an elite group would?
Perhaps, but in a democracy that is their privilege. Surely it is a gross
exaggeration to claim that name recognition is all that will matter and
"constructive thought" will no longer be relevant.
I have heard it said that under OMOV, Harold Winston, who was supported by most
"insiders," would not have defeated Yasser Seirawan in the 1987 election for
USCF President. I agree that Seirawan would have done better under OMOV and may
have won. On the other hand, in 1990 another GM, Max Dlugy, had most of the
"insider" support and won overwhelmingly. I believe that his opponent, Harry
Sabine, was known by and popular with players in many states, and that under
OMOV he would have had a better chance and may have defeated Dlugy.
I don't believe that just being a GM will make one a lock under OMOV, nor do
many GMs want to be on the Board, nor is anything wrong with having a GM on our
Board to provide a different outlook from the other members.
"A disastrous split?"
Redman writes, "Direct election could lead to a disastrous split between the PB
and the Board of Delegates, which is the legal corporate board of the Federation,
and to contentious and acrimonious annual meetings resulting in paralysis."
Really? The members elect, in effect, both the executive and legislative
branches of government, and this means the two will be so dramatically different
in nature that they will always fight? This sounds about as accurate as the
preamble to that 1430 British Act, which warned of "manslaughters, riots,
batteries and divisions" unless the right to vote was limited to property owners.
"It favors rich candidates"
The argument here is that under OMOV, only a wealthy candidate could afford to
send mailings or make phone calls to 50,000 voters. Actually, the current system
gives rich candidates more of an advantage than OMOV would.
Presently, the candidate with more money can afford more and better mailings and
more phone calls, and these may have a substantial effect, as all voters can be
mailed to numerous times, and most voters can be called.
Under OMOV, with about 100 times as many potential voters, it would be
extremely expensive to make much impact by mail or phone; most elections will be
decided by internet and Chess Life campaigning. A single mailing could cost
$20,000 to $50,000, and calls would be even more expensive and would have to be
made largely by surrogates. Why would anyone spend that kind of money to become
one out of seven on an unpaid volunteer Board, especially when there might be
a voter backlash against such excessive spending?
A multi-millionaire willing to spend this much to be elected could simply donate
this money to worthy chess projects instead, a more constructive and probably
easier road to victory.
Ownership and empowerment
Redman writes, "Most of our Voting members and Delegates are active participants
in the state associations that choose them. Without the work of these volunteers,
state groups would have a difficult time functioning. Without the feeling of
ownership and empowerment in the affairs of the Federation that their voting gives
them, and without the expertise they bring to their choices, both state
associations and national federation will be impoverished."
The feeling of ownership and empowerment is important, and this is a major reason
why the federation will be strengthened when we reach out to expand such a feeling
to as many adult members as possible! Why does Redman seem to assume that
expanding the voting franchise to others will cause our present voters to feel
they are no longer part of the process?
State associations
In addition to his above references to state associations, Redman writes, "Direct
elections will dissolve the traditional partnership between the national and state
federations. The state federations must have a say and a stake in Federation
policy..."
But the Delegates, selected by the state affiliates, appear to disagree. They
have since approved the principle that USCF members, even if not members of state
associations, have the right to vote for electors. OMOV is not threatening to
take away the state membership requirement- it has already been removed by SOMOV!
Most U.S. states abolished indirect voting by the State Legislatures for electors
for President in the 1820s, feeling it was not necessary to shield the President
from the direct will of the people. What is at issue now is whether we will stick
with the election structure that our nation abandoned 170 years ago, or join 21st
century America in which true democracy is not feared.
In 1825, when the New York State legislature debated ending property requirements
for suffrage, General Stephen Van Rensselaer argued, "There is in every community
a portion of idle, profligate and abandoned men; and it is unjust and impolitic
that this description of people should have it in their power to control the
government and the property of the industrious, the virtuous, and moral part of
the community."
Redman makes a similar argument, with the current Voting Members playing the part
of the "industrious, virtuous, and moral" who are "active participants in the
state associations" and thus should be rewarded by being the only ones allowed to
select our Executive Board.
The Chess Life argument
Redman writes, "The group in power will control, through the pages of Chess Life,
what the members know about the organization." This reflects an argument I have
heard from others, that elections could be decided based on biased news coverage
by our magazine.
This has not happened in the past, and it was more likely before the rise of the
internet provided a quick and inexpensive way to counter any inappropriate
coverage. Our editors have been consistently sensitive to the requirement of
maintaining neutrality, knowing that any deviation from this principle will make
them enemies who, even if not immediately victorious, are likely to imperil their
jobs in the future.
Fear vs. reality
Most people tend to be conservative and resistant to change. A major reason OMOV
has been defeated in the past is that its opponents have issued forecasts of
various dire consequences should it be enacted, such as "a disastrous split
between the PB and the Board of Delegates," "contentious and acrimonious annual
meetings resulting in paralysis," "dissolve the traditional partnership between
the national and state federations," "an unfair attack on the volunteers who give
up a great deal of energy and time," "lessened, not greater, accountability," and
"name recognition, not constructive thought, will be the criterion for election to
national office." The Delegates have feared such grim possibilities and decided
it was better to play it safe rather than risk real democracy, even though the
experience of other groups using OMOV has been quite different than these
predictions.
In 1884, State Attorney General M.C. Brown of Wyoming wrote, "My prejudices were
formerly all against woman suffrage, but they have gradually given way since it
became an established fact in Wyoming. My observation, extending over a period of
fifteen years, satisfies me of its entire justice and propriety." Despite this
and similar statements by the Governor and others in Wyoming, women were denied
the right to vote in most of the United States for another 36 years, until 1920.
Just as the fact that OMOV works well for other organizations has been
disregarded by the USCF Delegates, the majority of politicians in the U.S. long
chose to ignore the lesson of Wyoming and subsequent female suffrage states and
continue their traditional and undemocratic ways. There was actually a strong
campaign in congress against the admission of Wyoming to the union because that
territory allowed women to vote!
Following is a statement by U.S. Senator Joseph A. Brown of Georgia, made in 1887.
The quality of his logic reminds me of that of some of the arguments made against
OMOV. "The ignorant female voters would be at the polls en masse, while the
refined and educated, shrinking from public contact, would remain at home... The
ballot will not protect females against the tyranny of bad husbands, as the latter
will compel them to vote as they dictate... I also fear that wives will form
political alliances antagonistic to their husbands, and the result will be discord
and divorce."
As late as 1905, Grover Cleveland, a respected two term former President judged
by historians to have done an above average job, wrote the following of the
female suffrage movement: "To those of us who... cling to our faith in the saving
grace of simple and unadulterated womanhood, any discontent on the part of woman
with her ordained lot, or a restless desire on her part to be and to do something
not within the sphere of her appointed ministrations, cannot appear otherwise than
as perversions of a gift of God to the human race... The restlessness and
discontent to which I have referred is most strongly manifested in a movement
which has for a long time been on foot for securing to women the right to vote and
otherwise participate in public affairs... It is a thousand pities that all the
wives... cannot sufficiently open their minds to see the complete fitness of the
homely definition which describes a good wife as 'a woman who loves her husband
and her country with no desire to run either;' and every woman, whether mother,
wife, spinster or maid, who either violently demands or wildly desires for women a
greater share in the direction of public affairs, could realize the everlasting
truth that 'the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world."
The lesson of history is that for centuries, those who have campaigned to enlarge
the voting franchise have been repeatedly proven right. When we look back on the
statements made by those defending the old traditional exclusionary ways, they now
appear absurd.
The battle to democratize our federation constitutes but a microcosm of a long and
continuing movement for democratic change in the world, which inevitably will have
a similar end as the struggles for representation by those without wealth, women,
blacks, and the many other ethnic or religious groups that have been excluded in
various places. Since USCF governs only chess and not people's lives, we do not
face the same great moral issue here, but democracy will nevertheless prevail
before too long; it's just a question of when. We have nothing to gain by waiting.
Let's take this historic step forward now, and send a dramatic signal to our many
critics that USCF has fundamentally changed, that our membership finally has a
real voice, that we are determined to project a more positive image, rebuild our
membership base, and do more to popularize our great game.
If you will be at Framingham this August, please support OMOV at the Delegates
Meeting. If you are not a Delegate, ask your state association to appoint you in
the event your state has vacancies. If this does not work, you may be able to
join the state association of a different state with a vacancy and represent that
state. If you cannot attend the meeting, you can help to enact this reform by
urging Delegates you know to support it. Thank you for taking the time to read
this, and your interest in building a stronger USCF.
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